Attempts have been made in the prior art to provide improved aluminum alloys by powder metallurgy techniques. These techniques provide increased solidification rates over rates obtained in conventional casting. However, the solidification rates obtained have not been sufficiently great to produce useful metastable phases in the limited number of alloy systems which have been studied.
The following journal articles deal with rapid solidification processing of aluminum alloys:
"Exchange of Experience and Information, Structures and Properties of Al-Cr and Al-Fe Alloys Prepared by the Atomization Technique". A. A. Bryukhovets, N. N. Barbashin, M. G. Stepanova, and I. N. Fridlyander. Moscow Aviation Technology Institute. Translated from Poroshkovaya Metallurgiya, No. 1 (85), pp. 1081-111, January, 1970.
"On Aluminum Alloys with Refractory Elements, Obtained by Granulation" by V. I. Dobatkin and V. I. Elagin. Sov. J. NonFerrous Metals August 1966, pp. 89-93.
"Fast Freezing by Atomization for Aluminum Alloy Development" by W. Rostoker, R. P. Dudek, C. Freda and R. E. Russell. International Journal of Powder Metallurgy, pp. 139-148.
The following U.S. Patent Numbers relate to aluminum alloys and the rapid solidification of aluminum alloys: U.S. Pat. Nos.
1,579,481 PA1 1,675,708 PA1 2,963,570 PA1 2,963,780 PA1 2,967,351 PA1 3,147,110 PA1 3,625,677 PA1 3,899,820 PA1 4,025,249 PA1 4,078,873 PA1 4,053,264 PA1 4,265,676 PA1 4,313,759 PA1 4,347,076